Separable fastener



16, 1930. P. A. ARONSOh I' Y I 0 SEPARABLE FASTENER Original Filed June 14, 1923- F/LkZ INVENTOR.

M BYWW ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 16, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PETER A. ARONSON, OF RIVERCLIFFE, DEVON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO HOOKLESS FASTENER COMPANY, OF MEADVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENN:

SYLVANIA SEPABABLE FASTENER Original application filed June 14, 1923, Serial No. 645,223, and in Great Britain June 6, 1924. Divided and this application filed January- 28, 1928. Serial No. 248,675.

-to increase flexibility and reduce friction;

also to enable such members to be made of flat strip material; and more specifically to construct such members of flat strip material bent so as to require a minimum number per unitof length of tape with improved holding power.

In the recess and projection type of interlocking members disclosed herein, flexibility is increased and friction decreased by causing one to make a line or spot contact with the other, as distinguished from a surface. to surface contact.

This is attained by a novel construction whereby the cooperating interlockin members rock on the surfaces surrounding the projections and recesses instead of directly on the projections and recesses themselves. These surfaces are so formed that one makes a line or a spot contact with the other in looking and unlocking and in lateral flexing. In the preferred form of the invention, the surfaces around the projections and recess are transversely and convexlyrounded, or one may be convexly rounded and the other straight. This construction facilitates locking and unlocking, and is conducive to lateral flexibility because the relative inclination between the coacting surfaces provides the required facility of movement and prevents disengagement.

-When members of this type are subjected to transverse strain when engaged, the relative inclination of the coa'cting surfaces tends to make one ride on the other and thus cumulativply increases the holding power.

In the form of the invention shown herein for purposes of illustration, the interlocking members are made from successive pieces of wire of general flattened cross section by being cut off to the desired length, then bent up after being stamped or perforated to provide a shell type of member each comprising separated pairs of compressible jaws for clamping to a tape, an oppositely disposed recess and projection, a bridging element con- F1g. 1 is a plan view of a partiall closed Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of one of the locking members shown in Fig. l;

v Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 3a3a of Fig. 2;

ing member shown in Figs. 2 and 3 before being bent; Fig. 5 is a top plan view showing the lockin member clamped in position on a tape;

ig. 6 is a transverse section through a locking member of modified construction;

Fig. 7 is a transverse section illustrating the astener of Fig. 1 when transversely flexed; and

Fig. 8 is a transverse section illustrating a fastener having locking members of a type shown in Fig. 6 when transversely flexed.

In the drawing, the stringers 10', preferably I of woven tape, for example, have sewed thereto on opposite sides, braided or twisted cords 11 to form a beaded edge to which are secured a plurality of locking members 12 alternately arranged-on the tape and adapted to be controlled by the slider 13; Each member 12 is formed from a piece of flat wire or strip metal bent back on itself in a general U, hollow shell or rectangular shape provided with interlocking portions comprising an interlocking projection 14 stamped or bent up on one side and a recess 15 on the opposite side with which the opposed locking members cooperate. The projection 14 is set inwardly from the edges of the locking member and the recess 15 is also set in from the edges of the member in substantial alignment with the projection. The projection 14 is rounded,

Fig. 4 is a developed plan View of the lockfastener having locking members em odying I the invention;

spreading the jaws as shown in Fig. order to recelve the edge of thetape, and

bers are formed has Substantially parallel longitudinal edges and jaws 16 and 17 con-v nected by a'bridging element and formed by stamping out the metal occupied by a crosssection of the corded edge of the stringer, 4 in i then clamping the jaws to the stringer by as shown in Fig. 2 where these end portions 18 and 19 are bent in the same direction to provide a track along which the slider travels.

In order to reduce the friction between the parts and thereby increase the flexibility of the fastener, the surfaces 24 and 25 around the projection andrecess, respectively, are preferably tranversely and convexly rounded. When the fastener is closed the convexlyrounded surface 24 of each member rests and rocks on the convexly rounded surface 25 of its cooperating member, these co operating surfaces making only a line or spot contact instead of coinciding surface to surface as heretofore. In Fig. 6 only the surface 24 is convexly rounded while the surface 25 is substantially flat. In Fig. 6, furthermore, the projection 14 is flat and inclined and the recess 15 is substantially wider transversely than the projection to permit the projection of a similar locking member to move transversely therein without permitting separationwhen flexed. When the closed fastener is flexed transversely, as

shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the cooperating surfaces 24 and 25 around the engaged recesses and projections rock freely on one another, and the surface of each projection 14 slides or pivots on an edge of its cooperating recess 15, the only contact between the cooperating parts being a line or spot contact so that only relatively small portions'of the members will contact at any time. This materially reduces the friction between the parts in looking and unlocln'ng and in lateral flexing, and thus increases the flexibility of the fastener. When the closed fastener is subjected to transverse strain the cooperating locking members tend to ride one on the other and thus cumulatively increase the locking effect (1 e to the inability of the members to longitudinally separate at their rear ends where attached to the stringers. The strain at the back due to the riding at the front is taken up by slight tension on the tape between the members. This action is romoted by reason of the transverse an convex rounding of the surfaces around the cooperating projections and recesses, or one of them, which permits the locking members to ride freely on one another.

Among the advanta es of this invention may be mentioned the simplicity of construc- .tion whereby a fastener member is stamped from a flat wire and bent to the desired shape without the previously necessary finishing operations, inasmuch as the sides of the wire form the side faces of the jaw members. The number of locking members per unit length of stringer maybe varied by controlling the length of the bridging element between the jaws 16 and 17. The use of spaced clamping jaws in this construction provides a double grip'on the tape and lessens the liability of the locking member slipping along the tape, andthe space between the pairs of clamping jaws provides a suitable location for a bulge in the corded edge which is caused by the clamping action of the jaws, and is helpful to retain the locking member in place. The formation of the jaws in this construction is accomplished with a minimum waste of material. An im ortant advantage resides in the method of o taining flexibility in the fastener whereby the locking members rock on the surfaces surrounding the recesses and projections, with only small portions contacting, instead of directly on the projections and recesses themselves. By making the surfaces around the rojection and recess transversely and convex y rounded, the friction between the cooperating locking members is materially reduced and the flexibility is increased in looking and unlocking and in lateralflexmg.

Where the locking members are of the hollow type with a considerable space between the jaws 16 and 17, it may be desirable to use one or more overlapping flaps, as illustrated, for example, in Fig. 5 of Patent #1,432,219 to Sundback, dated October 17 1922, to prevent granular or other material from passing through the locking members and leakingout of the container or whatever the fastener is applied to. The invention, however, is not llmited to a construction having two pairs of clamping aws with a space between them, or to a hollow shell locking member. Various changes may be made in the details of construction shown and described without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. 'A locking member for a separable fastener having a projection and a recess on opposite sides of the member, the surfaces around the projection being transversely inclined away from the projection toward the recess side of the member and the surfaces around said recess being transversely inclined away from the recess toward the projection side of the member to permit rocking of cooperating locking members on one another.

2. A locking member for a separable fastener havin a projection and a recess on opposite sides 0th set in from the edges of'said member, the surfaces around." the projection llu being transversely inclined away from the projection toward the recess side of the member and the surfaces around the recess being transversely inclined away from said recess toward the projection side of the member to permit rocking of cooperating locking members on one another.

3. A locking member for a separable fastener comprising means for securing the same to a tape, a projection set in from the edges of, said member, and a recess in substantial tener formed to provide a projection and having a recess, means for clamping said member .on a tape, the surface around the projection and the surface around the recess being transversely rounded toward each other to facilitate rocking of one locking member on an opposite adjacent locking member.

5. A locking member for a slide t pe fas- 9. A locking member for a slide fastener comprising means for securing the same to a tape, a projection set in from at least one edge of stantial alignment with said pro ection, the surfaces immediately surrounding said projection and recess each being transversely rounded and convexed outwardly to facilitate rocking of one locking member on an opposite adjacent locking member.

10. A locking member for a slide fastener comprising means for securing the same to a tape, a projection and recess formed on opposite sides of said member, the surface of said side immediately surrounding said recess being transversely rounded and convexed outwardly to facilitate rockin of one locking member on an opposite adjacent locking member.

Signed at Riverclifie, Devon, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, this 19th day of J anua A. D. 1928.

P TER A. ARONSON.

tener bent to provide a projection an having a recess, means for clamping said member on a tape, the surface around both the projection and recess being transversely and convexly rounded to facilitate rocking of one locking member on an opposite adjacent locking member when the fastener is :fiexed.

6. A locking member for a slide type fastener comprising'a strip of material bent to provide a bridging element, jaws for clamping said member to astringer, and a projection and a recess formed in said strip of material and disposed on opposite sides of said bridging portion, the surface around and immediatel adjacent to both the projection and recess eing transversely and convexly rounded to facilitate rocking of a corresponding surface of a similar locking member thereon.

7. A locking member for a slide type fastener comprising a strip of material bent in the middle having ends provided with compressible clamping jaws and havin a. prosaid member, and a recess in subjection adjacent the bend on one si e and a recess adjacent the bend on the other side, the surfaces surrounding said projection and recess on said respective sides being transversel inclined toward each other.

8. lockin member for a slide type fastener comprislng a fiat strip of material bent in the middle, having ends provided with compressible clamping jaws and having a projection adjacent the bend on one side and a recess adjacent the bend on the other side, the surface around both the projection and recess bein rounded to acilitate rocking of one locking transversely and convexly. 

